Three wild animals remain on the loose; others shot

ZANESVILLE, Ohio — More than three dozen wild animals were released or escaped from an animal sanctuary in Muskingum County yesterday.

As of 10 a.m. Oct. 19, there were three animals still unaccounted for: a mountain lion, a bear and a monkey.

Jack Hanna with the Columbus Zoo said the mountain lion is the one animal of most concern to public safety at this point.

Muskingum County Sheriff Matthew Lutz said the sheriff’s department started receiving calls about wild animals near roadways around 5:30 p.m.

The department went to the farm where the department knew the animals were housed. When they arrived, they found the owner, Terry Thompson, deceased from a self-inflicted wound. A suicide note has not been found.

Lutz said it appears Thompson released the animals at some point by opening the gates of their pens.

He added there were pens along the outside of the house on the property. In addition, monkeys and chimpanzees were inside the house in pens.

3 Comments

Hi, Mike. We don’t know exactly where the mountain lion is, but Zanesville (where the lion escaped) is in Southeastern Ohio, and Bowling Green is in Northwest Ohio. It’s about a three-hour drive from one to the other.

Good. I can go to the Temple at Bowling Green football game Saturday safe in the knowledge that I won’t be eaten by a Mountain Lion or get my face scarred by a Monkey at the pre-game tailgate. Thanks. :)